The 2014 Primary Season Has Arrived

Posted
on May 13, 2014

The 2014 primary season is underway, and voters in eight states have already cast ballots that will determine winners in the 2014 midterm elections. Since 371 congressional districts are safe for one of the major parties, whichever candidate in the majority party wins their party’s nomination in those districts is going to be safely elected in November’s general election. Despite their importance, turnout has been upsettingly low in many of these primaries – sometimes as low at 16% of registered voters. It’s time for us to fix the primaries.

Top Four elections: a ranked choice alternative to the “Top Two” model of primary elections

Primary elections can have highly fractured fields, as was the case in Nebraska this week where Republicans nominated a candidate for governor with just 26.5% of the vote. Ranked choice voting would help.